Band brings people together
by CallmeCrazy07
Summary: A made up story based on what has happened since August '03. Set in band camp '04 with JGHS Marching Band as the cast.
1. The saga begins

I used my friends and fellow band members, changed the names, took things that happened last band camp added with what happened since then and how I wished it all turned out, all set in August '04.  
  
~A story of our ghetto school, at the worst band camp imaginable.~  
  
It was the band camp of '04, and the usual chaos before loading the buses ensued. Backpacks were dropped, music flipped through, suitcases thrown into the cargo space under the bus, and Sophomore Trumpet Erica was staring at the pavement in front of her.  
  
"Hunn, the sidewalk hasn't changed since you looked at it last time," said Erica's best friend and beloved floutist/guard whore ((I'm not saying the guard are whores! We just lovingly call them that)) Dana. "Is your trumpet loaded on the truck?"  
  
"Yeah, Kevin is all set for the ride."  
  
A freshie, not used to Erica's strange sense of humor and enthusiatic joy in naming her instruments and everything else she owns, asked quietly, "who's Kevin?'  
  
Erica continued to stare blankly at the pavement. Dana answered for her, "her trumpet is named Kevin."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"You might want to add that she hasn't taken her medication today yet. Just so that we keep the confusion down to a minimum," retorted Mark, Dana and Erica's best guy friend, a fellow Trumpet, and the person who talked them into joining marching band last fall. "You're not looking so good. Are you going to be sick or something?"  
  
Erica looked up bewilderdly, "no... there are no Dunkin Donuts sitting on this pavement in front of me."  
  
"And?"  
  
"Last year Tom brought me Dunkin Donuts before we left for band camp."  
  
Tom was Mark's older brother and had graduated last year; Erica considered him the best section leader she ever had. Which wasn't saying much, since this was the beginning of her second year, but still they had been friends and Erica wasn't looking fondly to this season without him.  
  
"We're going to be just fine without him."  
  
"You guys will do great," said Dana. "Had I known, I would have brought you Dunkin Donuts."  
  
"I know, but that's not the point. I don't even like doughnuts. It's symbolic.You know how band camp was last year. Do you think I can live through this year without some crowd control?"  
  
Mark looked sad, ((I guess he was thinking, "how can someone not like doughnuts?!")) "I'm here remember? I know we don't have the most responsible seniors this year. But we got three awesome freshmen. Tori, and Ross, and Cindy, it'll all work out. You're not the only girl in the section this year. Don't be so hard on yourself." Dana and Mark helped Erica up off the pavement and onto the bus. Freshmen in the front, seniors in the back, so naturally the three of them sat in the middle. Dana and Erica sat together and immediatly began to discuss the upcoming season, Mark sat with Kevin Chong, a junior and trumpet player. Everything seemed like it was supposed to be.  
  
About an hour into the ride, the excitement of the day caught up with everyone, and Mark and Dana fell asleep. Erica looked over sleepily at her two best friends in the world. They had made it through their freshman year, band camp, and practices together, and Erica wouldn't have it any other way.  
  
Erica was about 5'3" with brown hair, well that was her natural color. She was forever dying it red or blue or purple whenever she felt she had the same haircolor for too long. Hazel eyes and a strange random sense of humor, Erica seemed to fit into any crowd of people. She could hang with the punks or preps as easily as she could hang with the drumline or clarinets, though her style was certainly more on the whatever is comforable side. And she was never without a pair of her treasured Converse High Tops. Dana and Erica had been friends long before high school, but then marching band has strange ways of taking two people and making them inseperatable. Dana was good at just about everything she tried, from dance to flute, to winterguard. And Mark was the guy in the midst of girls. Sometime Erica and Dana felt bad for him, other times they felt he had brought it upon himself. With shaggy emo style brown hair, blue green eyes, and a excellent sense of humor as well as making you feel welcome, and being intelligent without being geeky, it seemed strange that he didn't have a girlfriend at the moment. 


	2. Camp Hell

Author's note: I finally got a review, so I'm adding the second part of my story. That I wrote a million years ago!  
  
~Arriving at Camp Hell.~  
  
"Huh? What? Ummm, no please, anything but M and M," muttered Erica as Dana shook her awake. "Wake up doofy, we're at camp." "Oh. Happy happy joy joy, you know its dark outside?" "Yes." "How come I did not notice that?" "Because you were to busy drooling to care," Mark smartly said. "Wow, what crawled into your mouth piece and died?" Mark rolled his eyes, grabbed his luggage and headed for his cabin.  
  
Dana and Erica walked with senior snare drummer Sara and junior pit player Sarah ((trendy with an H)) to their cabin. Stumbling over tree roots and rocks in the dark they made it to the cabin and back to the unloading site to get instruments and listen to the band director's welcome speech.  
  
Sitting on Kevin's upturned case, Erica nodded off to Cramer's instructions for the night. "Freshmen and all new upperclassmen, I'm very glad that you have decided to join us at band camp. As I have always said, my goal is to make you all play to your best ability. I expect you all to go to your cabins and settle in when you get there. Lights out at eleven. Cals out here in front of the mess hall at 6:30. I think we should start the night off right, and start with tradition as soon as we get here. Kenny, you and Ron will switch playing taps every other night on the boys' side. Erica, I want you to play taps for the girls' side every night. Ok?"  
  
Erica's head snapped up quickly. Ron and Kenny, being the senior trumpets and co-section leaders, agreed. Mark gently kicked Erica's trumpet case from behind and whispered, "just smile and nod." Erica gave the standard answer to any of Cramers' questions, and he dismissed them for the night.  
  
As they were walking back to the cabin Erica blankly asked, "did I hear right, or was I told to play taps, every night?"  
  
"Oh you heard right," said Snare Drum Sara, "deer in the headlights. Exactly how I felt when I was asked to be center snare this year. I hope I sucked up enough talent out of Trystan's practice pad..." ((Inside joke))  
  
--------Next day--------  
  
After lunch was sectionals, the most relaxing part of the day in some respects, the most dreaded in others.  
  
Erica walked out to the docks, she thought it was a cool idea to play out on the lake for sectionals, naturally it was her idea because the other people in her section were always too late to get anyplace good to practice. Last year they just sat on the ground in the woods. But here no one would bother them, the docks were big enough for all of them to fit and not get wet, and everyone would be able to hear the trumpets, which is exactly the way it should be. The only other person there when Erica got to the lake was a freshman and friend of Erica's, Tori. It made perfect sense that a girl trumpet would be the first at sectionals, the guys never were on time. Erica almost wished she was section leader so that she could make them sweat for being late. Finally Kevin, Ross, Cindy, Mark, Ron, Larry, and Kenny showed up. However the sectional had already started before Kenny arrived.  
  
"Oh look, our trusty co-section leader, on time again!" Erica sarcastically said. Her and Kenny had dated at the begining of her freshman year, and while she harbored no ill feelings, she wished he would act more mature for the good of the section.  
  
Sectionals ended, and everyone left to go back to the cabins before free time. Erica turned around to find Mark when she noticed that Ross had left his music folder on the docks. Knowing that it would probably get ruined, she set her stuff down under a tree and went back to get it. Walking back her foot hit a wet spot on the wood and her feet slid from under her. Inches before her head hit the wood, Mark's arms firmly grabbed her and stopped her from falling. Surprised Erica opened her eyes wide and looked up, Mark looked back with a serious green blue stare, almost too serious for Mark. Faces inches apart, Erica could tell he was scared that she would have been hurt. Mark leaned in just the slightest bit. Just before their faces met, Erica's foot slipped over the side of the dock, losing her balance with Mark's arms still around her, they both toppled into the lake.  
  
Laughing they both got out of the water. Hauling themselves back onto the dock, erica grabbed Ross's folder still unharmed on the deck. Erica retrevied her instrument and music from under the tree and they walked back to their respective cabins to change clothes before dinner.  
  
On the way back Mark shook his head, "so close," he thought, "so close!" He surprised himself with how much her really wanted to kiss her. He had always thought of her as a friend. But somehow along the way, it wasn't enough for him to simply be her friend.  
  
Erica focused on every rock and twig on the way back so that she didn't have to think about what had almost just happened. Strange thing was, she was disapointed that what almost happened, didn't. And that surprised her. Mark was only a friend, a good one at that, how could you think of kissing someone who used to be like a brother to you? 


End file.
